It's for you Darling ...

A YOUNG Stockport artist counted himself lucky when he met and sketched the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, on Monday. Andrew Tunney, 26, of Offerton, got the chance to show off his skills and was relieved when the man from Number 11 loved the portrait so much that he asked if he could keep it to put up in his office.

A YOUNG Stockport artist counted himself lucky when he met and sketched the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, on Monday.

Andrew Tunney, 26, of Offerton, got the chance to show off his skills and was relieved when the man from Number 11 loved the portrait so much that he asked if he could keep it to put up in his office.

Also known as "2 Hands", Andrew is an ambidextrous artist who has the ability to paint and sketch with both hands at the same time.

The former Stockport College student, who met Mr Darling while on a visit to Manchester earlier this week, said that he was nervous at having to sketch such an important person.

"It was all quite nerve racking and all a bit of a blur really," said Andrew. "Mr Darling had been delayed at a meeting in the Lowry and when he arrived I had just half an hour to do the sketch, but I tried to get as much of him down as possible in the time.

"He was really down to earth, we were talking while I was sketching and he was asking me what my dream job would be. I told him I’d love to work on animation in the movies.

"He was a really nice guy and asked could he keep the sketch, it was a relief that he liked it!"

The Chancellor was in Manchester to launch the NOISE "Dream Jobs" 2008 project, which aims to match young talent with work experience at the UK’s top creative companies.

At the NOISE Festival office, in Stevenson Square, Mr Darling spoke about the importance of creative talent to the economy and announced that companies from MTV Brazil, the BBC, Wayne Hemingway’s company Hemingway Design and Channel M are amongst those offering placements.

Chief executive of NOISEfestival.com, Denise Proctor, said: "Many young people with incredible talent face barriers to entry in the creative industries.

"NOISEfestival.com nurtures talent and brokers jobs in the most creative UK companies trying to find the best new ‘creatives’ and the Chancellor’s support shows this need is recognised at the highest level."